NFL draft: Brandon Hepburn's perseverance pays off

5:24 PM,
Apr. 24, 2013

North Rockland graduate Brandon Hepburn lines up on defense for Florida A&M before a snap in game against South Carolina State. Hepburn is projected to go in the seventh round of the National Football League draft or as a preferred free agent. Photo: Florida A&M

Written by

Dan DeFrancesco

The path from Division I-AA walk-on to being on the brink of playing in the NFL has been "a process", according to Brandon Hepburn,

An uphill battle might be a better way to describe what the North Rockland graduate has gone through. It was three years before Hepburn cracked the starting lineup of Florida A&M University's defense, including two seasons spent as a reserve without playing a single snap. A shot at the NFL didn't seem possible, let alone probable.

"I knew that my road might not have been as smooth as other people," said Hepburn, who is rated the 12th-best inside linebacker in this ...